Chapter 15: How I Really Feel About You
Author's Note: Final chapter! I want to thank everyone who's been following my story since the beginning, or maybe even on a more recent chapter. Thanks to you guys, I hit over 1K views for this story, and for that I am most grateful. Now, I did promise a reader review corner megasode in the final chapter, but sadly you won't get that, at least in this chapter. I have something planned for that, something that I know you guys will enjoy! I want to especially thank Demigod567, him pushing me to constantly post chapters (even when I told him to bug off) helped me gain confidence in writing stories like this and carving out my own writing style. Now, I could rant all day to you guys, but we have part one of this series to end, so why don't we end it in style?
"Welcome home, Yorukō-kun." Yuina said, a smile gracing her lips.
"I-I… wow." Yorukō stammered, not able to find the right words to say to the girl. He was (and still is) taken by surprise by Yuina's kiss, the teen decided to find a wall to lean against so that he didn't fall over. Kori, Sayuri, and Aya all got in the house soon after, the trio missing the kiss between the two which led them to be confused when looking at Yorukō.
"What happened to him?" Sayuri asked, concerned for her son.
"Nothing, he's just a bit shocked right now." Yuina said with the same smile on her face. Citing it off, the trio all shrugged before Kori walked to another area, Sayuri and Aya not too far behind her. It took a few more moments for Yorukō before he could recover completely. He looked at Yuina who still had the same smile plastered on her face.
"Did you like it?" Yuina asked.
"I regret us stopping." Yorukō replied, a blush beginning to show on his face.
"Do you want us to go again?" Yuina asked, seduction evident in her voice.
"As much as I want to – we need to talk, Yuina-chan." Yorukō said, his expression serious. "Do you want to walk with me for a while?"
Yuina nodded. "Sure. Is it serious?"
"Yes."
"Alright, give me a few moments and I'll meet you at the door, okay?" Yuina told her crush.
Yorukō nodded. "That's fine, I need to talk to the rest anyway, just give me a shout when you're ready."
"Okay!"
While Yuina turned to get ready, Yorukō headed to the rest of the group. Finding them all in a room located towards the back of the house, he spotted Aya sitting down while Kori was discussing something with Sayuri. Walking in the room, they each turned their attention to him; Kori's eyes intent on Yorukō which was something the teen picked up on immediately.
"I see you recovered, Yorukō-kun." Sayuri asked, relief flooding her voice: "What happened?"
"Yuina, she completely caught me off guard." Yorukō replied.
"What did she do?" Kori inquired.
"She gave me the most passionate kiss I've ever had in my life." Yorukō answered, his blush returning. Kori, for her part, looked down before beginning to think deeply about something.
"Yorukō, I…" Kori started.
"I'm ready, Yorukō-kun!" Yuina shouted, catching the boy's attention.
"Alright, I'm on my way!" Yorukō shouted back before turning to Kori: "What were you saying again?"
"It's nothing important. Go talk to Yuina, she's been waiting for you for a week anyway." Said Kori, her voice beginning to falter but managed to keep a strong tone. Nodding, Yorukō turned away from the trio for Yuina. As the boy was walking towards her cousin, Kori couldn't help but allow the tears in her eyes to flow freely on her face.
"Are you okay, Kori?" Sayuri asked: "You seem heartbroken."
"I…I am, Sayuri-san." Kori choked, unable to stop crying. "I messed up with your son, really messed up. It could very well be me with him right now, in Yuina's shoes, but I can never get with him… not after what I did!"
Bringing Kori closer, Sayuri gave the girl a hug which seemed to calm Kori down somewhat, the teen hunter finding comfort in the older woman's embrace. It took a few moments, but Kori managed to finally calm down in Sayuri's embrace and began to cheer up, if only slightly.
"I'm not one to tell you I've been a model mother to my son, or any of my sons, Kori-chan, but one thing I can really tell you is that if he can forgive me for all those years, whatever you may have done with or to him, I'm sure he can forgive you too." Sayuri said soothingly.
"Are you sure about that?" Kori asked pessimistically.
Sayuri smiled warmly towards Kori. "I'm sure. The next time you talk to him, let him know how you truly feel. If I know my son like I should, he'll love it when anyone is honest to him."
With Yorukō and Yuina…
The pair left the house soon after Yuina emerged at the door ready. They walked down the streets of Konoha, civilians beginning to stare at them for different reasons. Most of the male onlookers looked at Yuina with mild to moderate interest, causing most of their female companions to look in either disgust or anger towards their respective others before sending a glare Yuina's way for causing them to act in this manner. The other onlookers looked at Yorukō with mixed reactions. Some of these reactions varied from fear, distrust, anger, or indifference. Most of these negative reactions stem from reports of an Okiri supporter being in the leaf, many claiming the rogue teen being the supporter. Getting annoyed and irritated, Yorukō began to clench his fists in anger when he felt someone kick him in the back, which caused the teen to fall on all fours.
"You should go back to where you came from! You've no business being in the leaf!" screeched the civilian who kicked him down.
Taking a deep breath, Yorukō got back to his feet and ignored the civilian, citing him as unimportant before continuing his walk with Yuina.
"Why didn't you say or do anything, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina asked, concern clear for her crush.
"They're not worth my retaliation, and even if I did retaliate, it would look bad for me while I'm here, you know?" Yorukō answered with a fake smile, something Yuina could see through immediately.
The pair arrived at a park in the leaf not long after where a family had just finished packing their children's belongings back into a bag. Looking at them, both Yuina and Yorukō felt different thoughts towards the scene. Yuina took a small glance at Yorukō before turning back to the family, wondering if she and Yorukō would ever get to that point where they could be helping their children pack up their stuff before leaving. Yorukō looked at the scene before beginning to feel a new level of sadness. He began to recall the rigorous training with his father growing up, which led him to miss out on things like this. This led him to ponder on what his mother told him on their trip about her condition, missing any developmental chances like this to truly grow up as a normal child, especially without his sibling, Kazuma.
"Are you okay, Yorukō-kun?" Yuina asked, noticing Yorukō began to stiffen from his thoughts.
"Y-Yeah. A bunch of bad memories surfaced for me when I saw that family." Yorukō answered, his expression and mood lightening.
"It's okay. You don't have to go through those memories before." Yuina said, her earlier smile returning.
"Thanks, I needed that." Yorukō said before turning around to look at the flowing river. "It sure is beautiful, isn't it? We never even got to see flowing water like this back home due to how cold it was."
"Yeah, it really is." Yuina agreed. She turned around to see Yorukō looking intently at her, which caused the girl to massively blush.
"Remember what you told me all those nights ago, before I killed my teammates?" Yorukō asked softly.
"I…I remember it like it was yesterday." Yuina said, pushing the negatives from that night to the back of her head: "I remember telling you I liked you since our days in the academy, and I hoped you felt the same way."
Yorukō deeply pondered on Yuina's last comment, amazed on how she kept the same answer as before. Before he could notice, tears began to fall from the boy's face as he recounted the things he did soon after she confessed. Looking up at her, she had the same warm smile on her face which somewhat got warmer when she saw his tears.
"How can you still like me even after everything I did that night?" Yorukō asked bitterly: "You could've died with the rest of them! I could've killed you too!"
Seeing the distraught look in his eyes, Yuina brought her crush into a hug when Yorukō completely lost it and broke down crying. Placing her hand on his head, she soothed the broken teen for a while before his sobbing began to die down when she let him go. Composing himself, he dried the remaining tears from his eyes when he looked at Yuina once more.
"Even if you killed me that night, I would be sad it would have to end that way for me, but I'd be at peace with you knowing that I loved you."
Stunned at her response, Yorukō couldn't process anything to say which allowed Yuina to continue: "I've always felt this way about you, Yorukō-kun, ever since you've protected me from those bullies. To be close to you, stand beside you, fight with you…" a blush appeared on her face: "…and even be with you is all I've ever wanted since then."
"I had no idea it was like this, Yuina-chan." Yorukō started: "I'll admit that you're a beautiful girl. One of the prettiest aside from my mother of course." He chuckled a bit after saying that. "That aside, I felt something more towards you during the entire time I left the village, and I've never had the courage to say it directly. I'm not the best at it…" the nuke-nin scratched his head.
"Say what, Yorukō-kun?"
"Do you want to be with me, like in a relationship?" Yorukō asked.
"R-R-R-Relationship?" Yuina stammered, her face redder than a tomato.
"Relationship." Yorukō said, giving the girl the most genuine smile that he could muster.
"I'd love to be with you, Yorukō-kun!" Yuina squealed before jumping on her now-boyfriend, the two crashing on the ground with Yuina atop Yorukō. The two looked at each other embarrassingly before Yuina removed herself from the boy, the duo sporting deep blushes. Looking away from each other for a split moment, the two turned around and locked eyes with each other before closing the distance between them once more.
"Yorukō-kun…"
"Yuina-chan…"
The two kissed once more with Yorukō initiating the kiss this time. Unlike the first kiss, this was filled with more emotion from both sides. They melted into each other as they deepened their kiss, their tongues aggressively dancing together. The kiss was drawn out for five minutes, but they didn't care. Yorukō and Yuina thought that, for this time only, no one mattered but them. Regrettably, the kiss was broken, but they each had content looks on their faces.
"Just like before… wow." Yorukō said first.
"Yeah… could we just stay here for a little while longer?" Yuina asked. Yorukō nodded, and the two turned to look at the flowing river, only this time Yorukō wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her in closer. Smiling, Yuina rested her head on Yorukō's shoulder as the pair continued to watch the flowing river, each glad they're with one another.
And…cut! Wasn't expecting that chapter, or even how short it was now, do you? I wanted to end this half of the story completely based on romance eventually culminating in Yorukō's and Yuina's relationship starting! Now, I didn't forget about Kori, her confession will come in the second half (no Demigod, I will not tell you how that's gonna go down! *Laughs evilly*) Now, all jokes aside, I really appreciate you guys for your support on this journey; it made me more confident writing, and I'm sure I won't let anyone down from this point on. I've all but grasped how I want to write my stories, and the execution was my main issue until towards the end, and I have you guys and you guys alone to thank for that. The megasode will be the final chapter of the story, but as far as part one of Yorukō Shinden goes, this is where the journey ends! Until next time! Ancient: Signing out!